You might find cardinal (counting) numbers the most useful to know—you will need them to express time, record dates, do math, interpret recipe amounts, and, of course, count. In Italian, cardinal numbers are written as one word. Use the following table to memorize numbers from 1 to 100.

　　ITALIAN CARDINAL NUMBERS: 1-100

　　1 uno OO-noh

　　2 due DOO-eh

　　3 tre TREH

　　4 quattro KWAHT-troh

　　5 cinque CHEEN-kweh

　　6 sei SEH-ee

　　7 sette SET-teh

　　8 otto OHT-toh

　　9 nove NOH-veh

　　10 dieci dee-EH-chee

　　11 undici OON-dee-chee

　　12 dodici DOH-dee-chee

　　13 tredici TREH-dee-chee

　　14 quattordici kwaht-TOR-dee-chee

　　15 quindici KWEEN-dee-chee

　　16 sedici SEH-dee-chee

　　17 diciassette dee-chahs-SET-teh

　　18 diciotto dee-CHOHT-toh

　　19 diciannove dee-chahn-NOH-veh

　　20 venti VEN-tee

　　21 ventuno ven-TOO-noh

　　22 ventidue ven-tee-DOO-eh

　　23 ventitré ven-tee-TREH

　　24 ventiquattro ven-tee-KWAHT-troh

　　25 venticinque ven-tee-CHEEN-kweh

　　26 ventisei ven-tee-SEH-ee

　　27 ventisette ven-tee-SET-teh

　　28 ventotto ven-TOHT-toh

　　29 ventinove ven-tee-NOH-veh

　　30 trenta TREN-tah

　　40 quaranta kwah-RAHN-tah

　　50 cinquanta cheen-KWAHN-tah

　　60 sessanta ses-SAHN-tah

　　70 settanta set-TAHN-ta

　　80 ottanta oht-TAHN-ta

　　90 novanta noh-VAHN-tah

　　100 cento CHEN-toh

　　The numbers venti, trenta, quaranta, cinquanta, and so on drop the final vowel when combined with uno and otto. Tre is written without an accent, but ventitré, trentatré, and so on are written with an accent.

Beyond 100

　　Do you remember those good old days before the euro's arrival in Italy when you would pay a few thousand lire for admission to a museum or a cappuccino and biscotti? Tourists needed more than just the numbers up to 100 to get around. Lire are history, but learning numbers greater than 100 might still prove useful. Though they might seem unwieldy, after a bit of practice you'll be rolling them off your tongue like a pro.

　　ITALIAN CARDINAL NUMBERS: 100 AND GREATER

　　100 cento CHEN-toh

　　101 centouno/centuno cheh-toh-OO-noh/chehn-TOO-noh

　　150 centocinquanta cheh-toh-cheen-KWAHN-tah

　　200 duecento doo-eh-CHEN-toh

　　300 trecento treh-CHEN-toh

　　400 quattrocento kwaht-troh-CHEN-toh

　　500 cinquecento cheen-kweh-CHEN-toh

　　600 seicento seh-ee-CHEN-toh

　　700 settecento set-the-CHEN-toh

　　800 ottocento oht-toh-CHEN-toh

　　900 novecento noh-veh-CHEN-toh

　　1.000 mille MEEL-leh

　　1.001 milleuno meel-leh-OO-noh

　　1.200 milleduecento meel-leh-doo-eh-CHEN-toh

　　2.000 duemila doo-eh-MEE-lah

　　10.000 diecimila dee-eh-chee-MEE-lah

　　15.000 quindicimila kween-dee-chee-MEE-lah

　　100.000 centomila chen-toh-mee-leh

　　1.000.000 un milione OON mee-lee-OH-neh

　　2.000.000 due milioni DOO-eh mee-lee-OH-neh

　　1.000.000.000 un miliardo OON mee-lee-ARE-doh

　　You can place items in "order" with ordinal numbers. For instance, il primo is the first course on a menu and il secondo is the second course. Vittorio Emanuele III, who ruled the unified Italian nation from 1900 to 1946, was the third king with that name. Pope Paul V (1605-1621) was the fifth pope with the name Paul. When used with the numerical succession of kings, popes, and emperors, the ordinal numbers are capitalized:

　　Vittorio Emanuele Secondo (Vittorio Emanuele II)

　　Leone Nono (Leone IX)

　　Carlo Quinto (Carlo V)

　　diciottesimo secolo (eighteenth century)

　　ITALIAN ORDINAL NUMBERS

　　first primo

　　second secondo

　　third terzo

　　fourth quarto

　　fifth quinto

　　sixth sesto

　　seventh settimo

　　eighth ottavo

　　ninth nono

　　tenth decimo

　　eleventh undicesimo

　　twelfth dodicesimo

　　thirteenth tredicesimo

　　fourteenth quattordicesimo

　　fifteenth quindicesimo

　　sixteenth sedicesimo

　　seventeenth diciassettesimo

　　eighteenth diciottesimo

　　nineteenth diciannovesimo

　　twentieth ventesimo

　　twenty-first ventunesimo

　　twenty-third ventitreesimo

　　hundredth centesimo

　　thousandth millesimo

　　two thousandth duemillesimo

　　three thousandth tremillesimo

　　one millionth milionesimo

　　Notice the regularity of ordinal numbers beginning with undicesimo—the suffix -esimo is added to the cardinal numbers by dropping the final vowel of the cardinal number. The one exception includes numbers ending in -tré. Those numbers drop their accent and are unchanged when -esimo is added. Since Italian ordinal numbers function as adjectives, they must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify: primo, prima, primi, prime.